Hardware upgrade

My hardware request just got answered. Got a newer XPS now with a faster cpu and more powerful video cards. I also got an extra monitor waht can be a life saver in UDK.

The downside is that I need to reinstall all of my software again, including UDK, Visual Studio and nFringe.

Visual studio + nFringe

Last night I finally got nFringe to work properly. nFringe is an add-on for visual studio that allows the user to write, debug and compile unreal script. Most of the manuals are outdated what makes the installation so troublesome.

I also got to do a little scripting, nothing in depth though. Just an exercise to learn about the code structure.

Moving the crate (update)

UPDATE:

I just read on the UDK forum that it is possible to move the crate by adding a custom pawn class.

Since I don't have to much experience outside the UDK editor I'm trying to work through some tutorials that should help me to setup a good folder structure and to learn a bit of unreal script.

A notable problem is that a lot of the tutorials out there are based on early released UDK clients and a lot has changed since then.

Lets hope for the best.

Moving the crate

So I started building to today. The idea is to start with a sandbox level that can be used to test al of the game mechanics. I started in the crate that should have physics behavior but almost immediately ran into a problem.

You easily create a physics object by adding a static mesh as a Rigid body. A rigid body can be moved with the physics gun, or by shooting at it. The problem is that it can't be moved by walking at it. There also seem to be no settings in the object properties that changes that specific behavior.

Trying to look for a solution now.

Update

It's already two weeks ago since I posted my last update, and a lot had happened in the meantime. The mean problem was that I was losing focus, meanly because I was searching for a related research area that addresses a current design issue(s) or flaw(s) in current videogames. This search should result in a research subject that has more relevance to the industry. The only result I got was more pressure.

So i decided to change direction and I actually got back to my original approach which is the focus on learning mechanics. I also decided to leave the subject "Suspension of disbelief" untouched, meanly because it's to vague and hard to analyze. Though it is still probable that I will touch the subject in my thesis, but only at a superficial level.

So what now?

The most important step now is to start working on my prototype, which I intent to do in the following four to six weeks.

Oh yeah the prototype, wasn't that the half-life hazzard course.

Nop, not anymore. I decided to start building a game that has a little bit more originality to it. It's still in the save zone though, so don't expect any experimental gameplay. The concept is mainly focussed on mechanics that can be made/scripted in unreal kismet.

The goal of the game is to clear each room of its enemy's. The problem is that the player starts every room without a weapon. Enemies can be killed by crushing them with physics objects (crates) or by shooting them with a weapon from a fallen enemy. Figuring out how to kill the enemies is the puzzle element in the game and also offer me the opportunity to integrate a different learning elements

Main mechanics are:

- walking

- jumping

- pushing crates

- shooting

Weapons are

- physics (can be pushed a pun enemies)

- link gun (can be used to shoot at enemies)

- rocket launcher (can destroy specific walls)

I made a short animation that demonstrates the game mechanics. Note: The 2D camera viewpoint is used for demonstration purposes. It's probable that the final the final game will use another point of view.

604800 seconds delayed

I have to admit that blogging isn't my one of my strong points which should explain the lack of blog posts over the previous week.

So last week I had my meeting with my supervisor Karel Millenaar to present the prototypes that I produced over the last few weeks focussing mainly on the training course prototype that is shown in the video below.



Although progression within UDK seemed to be satisfactory, Karel advised me to take a step backwards to concentrate on my research outline, which I'm doing right now. The achieve a better aim to this I study need to stop wondering about and to start analysing.

This weeks goals:
- Gather relevant articles
- Do repertoire research / case studies
- Rough Supportive narrative outline + revised research questions